


Slow Dancing

by ChElFi



Series: Eighteen Anniversary Drabbles [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 18 Drabbles, Alternate Universe - Classical Music, Anniversary, Classical Music, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Drama & Romance, F/M, Inspired by Music, Music, Not Canon Compliant, Romance, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:12:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4290393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChElFi/pseuds/ChElFi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria is not one to make decisions based on emotion. In fact, the few times she has, she regretted it. Working on their anniversary to prove a point to Steve is one of those times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> If you're on tumblr, you might know I'm working on something else right now. But I had a bit of a block at one part so I decided to go read through my other unfinished works. This one was finished, except some light editing, so I cleaned it up to post.
> 
> This is part of the 18 Drabbles series which is part of the larger "Shape of Us" story arc, which is starts immediately following Avengers 1 so it's not current MCU-compliant. This particular story takes place on Steve's & Maria's 12th anniversary. It would help considerably to read the stories for their 9th, 10th, and 11th anniversary (click on the link for "Eighteen Anniversary Drabbles" for those). Also, if you want to be really depressed, you could read "Things That Go to Make up a Life," which explains more thoroughly the pain and misery that is in the background here.

Maria stretched out on the bed in her third floor suite in The Cellars-Hohenort. It was barely autumn in South Africa and the weather in Cape Town was pleasant enough to have the window open. She breathed the fresh air deeply and sank further into the soft covers.

She was in Cape Town at Jasper’s request, overseeing talks between three rival groups vying for power in Liberia. She had accepted the job, though it would extend through her wedding anniversary.

A sigh escaped her lips as she recalled Steve’s face when she’d told him the dates, and especially the assignment. She thought he might argue. He’d been getting better over the past year, but he still worried whenever she accepted any job that would take her too far from him. This time he didn’t say anything to her. Still, his look told her his fears were nowhere near a thing of the past.

She supposed she should be more understanding, but she hated the fact that, even in her own mind, everything was still categorized by before her capture/supposed death, and after her return. Maria couldn’t lie to herself about why she’d accepted this assignment. It was just dangerous enough without actually being a threat that Steve would be able to see that she could do something like this and return to him unscathed.

The letter in her hand began to demand her attention and Maria unfolded it to read again. She and Steve had decided they’d exchange their anniversary letters before she left, then open and read them on the day. Maria was to call him after she read hers.

His words were, as always, full of love, but Maria had to wonder how much was really from his heart. Was he truly glad to see her taking steps to recover her life? The tension in his voice whenever they spoke on the phone during each trip seemed to tell a different story. As did the conversation she’d had with Tony a few months earlier.

_“I’m surprised he’s doing so well,” she’d told her old friend before she’d left for Oslo. “The security risks for this trip are the highest of any I’ve taken since I came back.”_

_When Tony didn’t respond right away, Maria looked up at him from the report she’d been reading._

_“What?” she asked._

_Tony appeared to be weighing the words he wanted to say to her. No matter how much marriage and fatherhood and the years had matured him that was still somewhat rare for Tony._

_“He’ll always let you go,” Tony said._

_Maria felt her brows furrow._

_“Why?” she asked cautiously._

_Tony sighed, then leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. If Maria didn’t know better, she’d think he was praying, possibly for wisdom._

_When he looked back at her he let out a slow breath before he spoke._

_“He thinks if he doesn’t, you’ll leave him,” Tony told her._

_Maria felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her and it took her a minute to formulate a reply._

_“Why would he think I would ever leave him?”_

_She felt a dread well up inside as she thought through their conversations of late, seeking the answer to her question._

_“It’s complicated.” Tony started. “Or, maybe it isn’t._

_“In short, he thinks that you think that he thinks you are too weak to do what you used to do.”_

_Maria blinked several times at him. If she wasn’t used to Tony-speak, it would have taken her a little longer to work through all the “thinks.”_

_She shook her head in disbelief._

_“Why would I leave him over something like that?”_

_Tony shrugged._

_“I honestly believe he’s just afraid you’re going to leave and be gone,” he explained. “Death, divorce, it’s all the same to him. He can’t live without you.”_

Now, as she read Steve’s letter she regretted not talking to him about his fears before she’d left. She had told herself she was protecting Tony. Steve had said those things to him in confidence. But Tony wasn’t one to care about that sort of thing, so Maria had to admit she simply didn’t want to have the conversation.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of one of Mozart’s Prussian Quartets. Number 21 in D, to be precise; one of her favorite pieces. She smiled at the sound of the music drifting on the breeze and went to take a look to see what the occasion was outside her window. The security was rather tight and she hadn’t been informed of any change in the schedule. Also, from what she knew of the people present, this would be unusual. Still, she had been wrong about people before.

When she looked out her window she smiled as she realized that she had, indeed, been wrong about someone, again.

Down in the garden below her window stood, well, except the cellist, The Emerson String Quartet, one of her favorite quartets. There was a small table with two formal place settings, candles, a vase full of peonies*, and, next to that, one tuxedoed super-soldier, blushing to the top of his head.

"You're not going to quote Shakespeare are you?" She called down.

"As a matter of fact…" He smiled. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?"

"You are a sap," she said and laughed. "But you forgot a ladder."

"Due to legal issues, you have to use the stairs or elevator," he said.

"I could always jump," she joked, but she saw the flash of fear in Steve's eyes, even from this distance.

She closed her eyes and took a calming breath. She briefly weighed her options before she began to climb out the window.

"Maria!" Steve called, the concern was obvious in his voice and on his face.

"Are you going to catch me?" she asked, her feet hanging over the edge.

The quartet had stopped for a moment and was watching the situation unfold. Then Eugene Drukker leaned over and whispered to the others. They returned to their positions and began to play Shoshtakovich’s 2nd String Quartet. Maria was grateful it wasn’t one of the composer’s more ominous pieces. That might have caused Steve more problems.

“Ready?” Maria asked.

“Maria, please, just…” Steve started, but he was cut off when Maria jumped.

He easily caught her and when her feet were on the ground, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She could feel him trying to calm himself so she waited before attempting to extract herself from his tight hold on her.

Dinner was a relatively calm affair, considering the beginnings. Steve, to no surprise of Maria, didn’t bring up the incident once. The conversation was kept innocuous. (“How did you get the musicians?” “Tony owed me a favor.” “How did you get them to South Africa?” “Rhodey owed me a favor.”) When they finished their dessert, Steve stood and took Maria’s hand. He pulled her away from the table and they began to dance.

After a few minutes he sighed and leaned his head gently against hers.

"This was a mistake, wasn't it?" he asked. "Coming here? I should have waited for you to get home."

"No, Steve," Maria said with a sigh. "This was fine. In fact, it was perfect."

The more she had thought over the situation during dinner, the more guilty she felt.

"I think I should apologize," she said.

That garnered her the look of surprise she expected.

"I should have told Jasper, 'No,'" she said. "It was the wrong time to do this."

"It's fine," Steve said, rushing in to excuse her. "He needed you to do this and I..."

Steve paused and took a deep breath.

"I need to learn to let you..."

He stopped again. Maria could see his internal struggle visibly on his face. The pain of what he wanted to say was in his eyes.

"No, Steve," she said. "This time it's not you. It really is me."

He shook his head, but Maria continued before he could speak again.

"How many anniversaries have we spent apart?" she asked, because that was the real issue tonight.

Despite their hectic schedules, and the importance of both their jobs, there was only one anniversary they had spent apart and it was the one when Steve had thought she was dead.

"Um," was all Steve could choke out before he looked away. He squeezed her hand tighter and appeared to be attempting calming breaths.

"I was so wrong to do this to you," she said. "I forgot, and I was just angry about my circumstances."

She reached up and turned his face back to hers.

"I just want everything to go back to how it was before," she said. "But it's just not possible. We both have been through too much, we've both changed."

Steve made no attempt to hide the fear her words generated.

"I can work harder, I promise," he said, she could tell by his voice that he was on the edge of breaking down.

She smiled and leaned in to press her lips to his.

"Steve, I am  _never_ going to leave you," she said. "And especially not over something so little."

When she pulled away from him, he still didn't look convinced.

"Steve, from the time we started dating, you have been nothing but good to me and for me," she said. "I didn't even know what love was, but you have shown me every day."

She kissed him again then dropped his hand and walked over to the quartet. She quietly made her request then returned to Steve.

Steve gave her a half smile when their song started playing. Maria took his hand and they returned to dancing. Years earlier, Steve had sung this song to her during a dance they shared after they were officially engaged. They had danced to it on their wedding day, and many days since. Tonight she sang to him.

You're no longer alone.  
We've found a space to name our own.  
There ain’t no need to fret or fuss.  
We've got all the strength we need in the shape of us.

In the shape of us, mmm, in the shape of us.

And I know you've had it tough.  
Your road's been bumpy and rough.  
But say goodbye to a world that you once knew.  
I have every faith in me and you.

Hold my hand.  
Hold my heart.  
Let go your fears.  
Darling I will always be here.

I never felt quite so at home.  
Your sweet caress is the best I've known.  
Now that I've proved to you that I'm worthy of your trust.  
Let us build a world in the shape of us.

In the shape of us, mmm, in the shape of us.

Hold my hand.  
Hold my heart.  
Let go your fears.  
Darling I will always be here.

Darling I will always be here.

 

**Author's Note:**

> *Peonies are the flower for a 12th anniversary.


End file.
